[1.07] International Science in the Cold War: The Politics of U.S.-Soviet Astronomy, 1950-1961

R. Doel (CfA)

During the height of the Cold War, scientific relations between American and
Soviet astronomers grew deeply strained. Polemical statements by Soviet
astronomers in the early 1950s caused American astronomers, including Otto
Struve, Fred L. Whipple, and Leo Goldberg, to worry that political coercion had
breached the integrity of the Soviet astronomical community. At the same time,
Struve, Goldberg, and other U.S. astronomers faced growing pressure from State
Department officials to adhere to American foreign policy objectives, including
restrictions on contacts between American and Soviet scientists. By the late
1950s, American astronomers participated in a significant yet little-known
effort to challenge State Department policy towards international science.
Nevertheless, the close relation between U.S. scientists and the state after
1945 limited the options that American astronomers had in maintaining
international cooperation in astronomy. Understanding this political and
intellectual framework provides new insights into how the Cold War influenced
American astronomy in the 1950s. Priority debates, competition over
disciplinary leadership, and national loyalties also strongly shaped
international scientific cooperation during this period.